Originally, the schemers contacted mainly heads of companies and church officials. However, the use of e-mail spam and instant messaging for the initial contacts has led to many private citizens also being targeted, as the cost to the scammers to make initial contact is much lower.

Another recent variation of the scheme involves the use of fake cashier's checks to pay for high-value items in Internet auctions. The scammer sends a check for more than the purchase price asking that part of the money be forwarded to a 'shipper' or 'freight forwarder' after the funds have cleared. This will usually happen quickly as banking practice assumes that banks are liquid at all times and that there is no credit risk. The vendor will only discover that the check was fraudulent and the transaction has been voided a few days later, by which time the intermediary will in most cases have been paid.